Chris Leslie MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responding to the Treasury’s announcement on the infrastructure pipeline, said:

“With the country facing a cost-of-living crisis we need to invest in infrastructure to create jobs, boost living standards, and strengthen our economy for the long-term.

“But for the last three-and-a-half years the Government’s record on infrastructure has been one of complete failure. The ONS says that infrastructure work is down 3.7 per cent in the last year and fell by 10 per cent in 2012. And in the spending review the Government set out plans to cut capital investment even further in real terms in 2015/16.

“Scheme after scheme has been announced to great fanfare but then little actually delivered. Yet another announcement from Ministers about possible future investment will do little to reassure business that warm words will finally translate into diggers in the ground.”

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